Encyclopedia > List of monarchs deposed in the 20th century

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List of monarchs who lost their thrones or abdicated in the 20th century

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The following monarchs either lost their thrones through deposition by a coup, by a referendum which abolished their throne, or chose to abdicate during the twentieth century.

See also: Abolished_monarchies


King Zog of Albania
overthrown by Mussolini in 1939

  • Austria
    • Emperor-King Karl - Austro-Hungarian Empire abolished in 1918. (d.1922)

  • Baltic State (Estonia and Livonia)
    • No ruler actually chosen, although offers were made to German Emperor Wilhelm II before it ceased to exist in 1918.

  • Bukhara
    • Emir Muhammad Alim Khan - deposed 1920, lands taken over by Bolsheviks (d.1934)

  • Bulgaria
    • King Simeon II - deposed in plebiscite in 1946; currently Prime Minister of Bulgaria.

  • Cambodia
    • Queen Sisowath Monivong Kossamak - deposed in 1970 with the coup that ended the regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The monarchy was restored in 1993 with Sihanouk (who had previously reigned as King from 1941 to 1955) as King.

  • China
    • Emperor Puyi sent into exile following 1912 revolution. (d.1967)

  • Courland
    • Duke-elect Wilhelm II is deposed following the end of World War I in 1918 (d.1941)

  • Croatia
    • The Axis puppet King Tomislav II (Prince Aimone of Savoy, Duke of Spoleto), who had never actually reigned, abdicated in 1943, when Italy made peace with the allies.

  • Egypt
    • King Farouk abdicated, in 1952 in favor of his son Fuad II. Young Fuad was deposed the next year, and Egypt became a republic. (Farouk died 1965, Fuad is still living)


Kaiser William II of Germany
King of Prussia

deposed after World War I

  • Finland
    • Grand Duke Nicholas II abdicated March 1917. The Russian Provisional Government[?] continues to exercise grand ducal authority for its brief existence.
    • With the end of World War I, the king-elect, Prince Friedrich Karl of Hesse, was deposed without having ever reigned.

  • Germany
    • Kaiser Wilhelm II deposed following Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918. (d.1941)

  • Greece
    • King Constantine II - deposed by referendum abolishing monarchy in 1973 (and re-run in 1974)

  • Hungary
    • King-Emperor Charles IV - refused permission to assume residency and constitutional functions in the Kingdom of Hungary following the end of World War I by the Regent of Hungary. Died in exile in 1922. Kingdom of Hungary abolished by communists following World War II.

  • Indian Princely States
    • all the several hundred princely states (with a few exceptions) were abolished upon India's independence in 1947.


Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran
overthrown by revolution in 1979

  • Italy
    • King Umberto II - deposed by referendum abolishing monarchy in 1946. (d.1983)

  • Khiva[?]
    • Khan Abd Allah Khan, deposed 1920, lands taken over by Bolsheviks

  • Korea
    • Lyunghui Emperor deposed by the Japanese in 1910.

  • Laos
    • King Savang Vatthana - deposed in 1975 by the Communists.

  • Libya
    • King Idris[?] - deposed in a coup led by Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi in 1969. (d. 1983)

  • Lithuania
    • The German puppet King Mindaugas II (Duke Wilhelm von Urach) is deposed following the end of the First World War in 1918.

  • Mecklenburg-Strelitz
    • the last Grand Duke, Adolf Friedrich VI[?], committed suicide in February 1918. From then until the abolition of the monarchy in 1918, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin acted as regent.

  • Montenegro
    • King Nikola[?] - deposed after the First World War, when Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia.


King Manuel II of Portugal
overthrown by revolution in 1910

  • Poland
    • The German and Austrian established Kingdom of Poland, which never had a King, although Archduke Karl Stefan of Austria was for a time King-elect, ceased to exist after the armistice in 1918.

  • Prussia
    • King Wilhelm II - overthrown from Prussian and German thrones after World War I. (d.1941)

  • Romania
    • King Michael - deposed by communist-dominated government in 1947.

  • Russia
    • Emperor Nicholas II - abdicated after the February Revolution of 1917, as did his named successor, his brother, Michael II (known for a very short time as Michael II); both Nicholas II and Michael separately were later murdered, as was all of Nicholas II's family. The monarchy was abolished and replaced by a Russian republic under Lenin, which in 1922 became the Soviet Union


Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
overthrown by revolution in 1917
executed with his family in 1918

  • Spain
    • King Alfonso XIII - fled following republican win in local elections in 1931, died 1941 (monarchy restored in 1975 under his grandson, King Juan Carlos)

  • Tunisia
    • King Muhammad al-Amin - deposed in 1957, when Tunisia became a republic. (d.1962)

  • Vietnam
    • Emperor Bao Dai abdicates in 1945 when communists sieze control of the nation. (d.1997)

  • Yemen
    • King Muhammad al-Badr - deposed in 1962 (d.1996)

Surviving monarchs from abolished monarchies:


Emperor Bao Dai of Vietnam
deposed twice
  • King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan (b. 1914)
  • King Constantine II of Greece (b. 1940)
  • King Fuad II of Egypt (b.1952)
  • Queen Elizabeth II of Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Malta (b. 1926)
  • King Simeon II of Bulgaria (b. 1937) - currently serving as Prime Minister
  • King Michael of Romania (b.1921)



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